Yagya Bahadur of Chudapani in Alital Rural Municipality-1 of Dadeldhura district has beehives around his house. He has cultivated vegetables in a small patch of land while the rest of the land has been kept barren.
He said he switched to beekeeping because he had to invest more in the farming and the yield was not satisfactory.
“But there is not much investment in beekeeping. The work is also easy and the income is good,” he said. There are 19 beehives in the house of Bohara. He has been doing commercial bee farming. Locals of the village including Bohara have received modern beehives in donation from the District Agricultural Development Office and have even taken training on bee rearing. “Nepal government has been providing beehives to the farmers in donation. We have also been taking training,” Bohara said.
There are big trees of Chiuri on the side. The Churi blossoms from Kartik to Magh (November- December). This is the most favorable season for the bees. Bees don’t have to go far for grazing. The yield becomes higher in autumn as it is the main season of chiuri fruit. The chiuri contains 90 percent of juice. Different types of flowers blossom in other seasons.
People used to rear bees in wooden beehives in a traditionally way in the past. Bishnu Joshi’s father had also reared bees in wooden beehives in his house. Now, Joshi has been professionally rearing bees in modern beehives. Joshi, a former migrant worker who returned from abroad, has been earning decent income at home.
“I worked at a Chinese company in Malaysia. All my hard works went to China. Now, I am rearing bees here. The income is good and I am happy,” Joshi said.
Joshi not only produces honey; he also produces bee these days. He also makes modern beehives essential for beekeeping in his home. Many people from this area have been taking beehives and bee from him. He thinks that the locals of this village can be attracted towards bee farming if they can be given proper guidance and support. If the local level extends support to him, the economic condition of the people can be improved. Local level should provide bees and beehives to those who don’t have.
“The local level should help the people who are financially weak. Who will help us if not the local level?” Joshi questioned.
“The modern beehives are made in such a way that the bees can produce honey easily. The modern beehives have two section. Bees are produced in the first section and bees are produced in the second. It will not affect the bees if the honey is extracted from this kind of beehives,” he said.
Farmers have even been keeping prepared honeycomb for the bees in the beehives to produce the honey easily. Bees prepare the honey easily after keeping honeycomb in the beehives. Three types of bees: workers, drones and queen are kept in one beehive. Karmi collects flower nectars and works to produce honey while drones and queen work to produce child.
Bee is the indicator of balanced environment. There is a saying that the life of people will be at risk if the bees started to die. That is why, the growth of bees will be considered healthy for locals. Bees are also considered the scientific insect. It changes its habitat by looking at the temperature. The farmers, who have been rearing bees professionally, have been facing the problems of forage and pasture for the bees. There are only old trees of Chiuri for grazing. New trees have not been raised.
Famers said that this profession will be at risk if concerned authorities do not manage the pasture for the bees.
“There is no new plants. All are old. The old trees are also dying. If this continues, all the old trees will die in the next five years. All the lands are barren. The government said the land should not be kept barren,” Joshi said, “Water should be made available where there is no water. The government should also say what kind of saplings should be planted.”
Government and non-governmental organizations, who have been providing trainings, have been providing only technical ideas. Farmers demanded that the knowledge about developing grazing areas and their conservation should also be given during the training programmes.
The relationship between bee and people is indispensable. The bee plays an important role in pollinating. Because of this, bee helps to maintain the environment balance.
“Bee helps to maintain the eco system balance. People and bee are the two sides of the coin,” said Yagya Bohara. “Bee play an important role in pollinating.”
People cannot use harmful chemicals on their field because of bee keeping. This place is suitable for bee keeping. That is why, the government has been providing various types of helps to the farmers.
“We train the villages on bee keeping. We encourage locals to engage in bee farming professionally,” said Dhan Bahadur Dhanuk, Chief at the Beekeeping Development Centre. The local government has also made a plan to make the rural municipality free of toxic chemicals to encourage the people to take up bee keeping.
“We are making the rural municipality free of toxic chemicals to promote beekeeping. We are planning to make our rural municipality the pocket area for honey,” Alital Rural Municipality Chairman Bal Bahadur Gurung said.
